Printed memes and "impractical" fashion: 8 newspapers we loved in July

July’s picks are happily all over the place, much like our team's trips this summer. In the mix for July: Dishoom's broadsheet dedicated to doing nothing, printed memes to send to friends the old fashioned way and a "big, impractical, heavily pixelated" fashion magazine.

Ghost town

Format: Digital midi / Paper: 80gsm bright recycled paper

Filmmaker Joseph Douglas Elmhirst has created a fantastically atmospheric publication with Duppy, which takes its title from a Jamaican Patois term for a ghost or spirit.

The project brings together artists, writers and cultural thinkers – including Rachel Scott of Diotima and DeVonn Francis – to examine how Jamaica's past still shapes artistic and social practices today. All the text is printed in white on a sumptuous black background, with written pieces broken up by full-bleed visual stories. It's one of the most striking newspapers we've printed this year.

"Newspaper Club brought so much ease to this project." –Joseph Douglas Elmhirst

Idling with intent

Format: Traditional broadsheet / Paper: 70gsm improved paper

It was too hot to do much of anything in London in July. Instead of fighting it, Dishoom embraced the slower pace with a pop-up at Shreeji News devoted to "artful idling." Chai was poured for visitors to sip while flipping through the latest edition of Dishoom Presents, a broadsheet filled with stories, poems and photography from contributors who know a thing or two about time well wasted.

Memes in print

Format: Digital tabloid / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

The first newspaper we printed at Newspaper Club, way back in 2009, was an artifact of online culture titled Things Our Friends Have Written on the Internet. Nearly two decades later, The Daily Scroll puts the vernacular of today's internet –  Wikipedia articles, Reddit posts and memes – on the printed page.

"We hope it entertains and connects people, just like the internet was supposed to," says the team. To that end, there's  a page in the newspaper designed to be pulled out and folded into an envelope. Cut out memes you like from the newspaper, fill the envelope and send it to a friend instead of a DM.

Skip inbox

Format: Digital mini / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

Oakland-based photographer Sheilby Macena has been sharing her work through an email newsletter for years. This month she brought that format into print for the first time with a portfolio newspaper featuring recent projects, including a preview of Hold Me Tender, a photobook and exhibition she's creating with Simrah Farrukh.

"A newspaper carries a different level of intention and care," says Sheilby. "It honors my work in a way that a screen can't. Holding something I made, feeling the weight of the paper, seeing my words and images on a page is the best feeling."

"The response has been amazing. It turned my newsletter from something I send into something I get to give." –Sheilby Macena

Blue print

Format: Traditional tabloid / Paper: 52gsm recycled newsprint

Artist and paper engineer Kelli Anderson runs a quarterly Good Mail Club, sending subscribers hands-on print projects through the post. For the latest edition, Kelli created a newspaper that guides readers through making their own 15-frame cyanotype animation – from drawing the frames to exposing, washing and assembling the final piece. You can see the process in action here!

Style supplement

Format: Digital broadsheet / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

A newspaper was part of the look for William Palmer's presentation at Pitti Uomo in Florence, where mannequins were styled as commuters waiting at a bus stop. Breaking news: the British designer picked up six new stockists following the event!

Cannes you read me?

Format: Digital tabloid / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

For this year's Cannes Lions, the annual advertising and creative industries festival, Linktree turned its activation into a stylish apartment complete with its own newspaper. Featuring data and insights about creators (plus a custom crossword), Le Papier gave visitors an excuse to sit down and spend time in the space.

Fashionably impractical

Format: Digital broadsheet / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

Useless is a "big, impractical, heavily pixelated newsprint magazine" founded by UK-based creative director Molly Oxley. We've printed five issues of the fashion publication so far, each one pushing the format further into chaos. "It’s an energetic newsprint that keeps you twisting and rotating each page to read it," says Jeremy Leslie, who featured Useless in magCulture's pop-up at Selfridges this spring. And it just got shortlisted for a D&AD award!

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